The Sorting
by bballgirl32
Summary: Albus Potter is terrified of being in Slytherin, convinced that his entire family will hate him if he gets stuck there. A one-shot on his sorting and what comes of his worst nightmare.


**A/N-**

**Just a short one-shot, written as a result of brooke13243546's request. It just details Albus Potter's sorting a little bit. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Oh, and I present this as a thanks to brooke for reviewing basically every chapter in my recent stories. I really, really appreciate it.**

**Now for the story.**

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><p>"Peakes, Justin." Albus felt his knees go weak as the boy in front of him slowly made his way up to the stage to get sorted. In his head, he kept hearing the hat say "Slytherin" over and over again. He was going to get stuck into the house that everyone hated, the one that Tom Riddle was in. Uncle Ron was going to disown him.<p>

"Calm down, Potter," Allen Pucey said from the other side of him. "My mum and dad were both in Slytherin. It's not that bad of a house."

"Y-y-yes it is," Albus stuttered, then felt his cheeks go bright red. He couldn't even talk right! With his luck, he'd get stuck in Hufflepuff instead, and then he'd really have to be ashamed.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat burst out. Justin hopped off of the stool with a crazy grin on his face as the table under the red and gold banner started clapping. Albus closed his eyes and prayed that the same thing would be happening to him soon.

Neville gave Albus an encouraging smile before he stepped forward and called out, "Potter, Albus."

The hall went dead quiet for a moment, and then the whispering started as the younger Potter boy walked shakily up to the stool. He swore he saw the Slytherins give him terrifying sneers, and he could hear everyone else talking about how they just _knew _the younger Potter son was going to be in Gryffindor.

He wished that he could be as sure as they were.

Albus took a deep breath and plopped himself down. When he was facing the crowd, everyone else seemed so much bigger than him. To make it worse, they were all staring like he was some kind of freak.

"Calm down, Al. You're going to be fine," Neville whispered.

"Come on, Hat, stick him in Slytherin!" Fred and James chorused. Albus felt his cheeks grow even redder.

Then Neville placed the hat on his head. It was so big that it slid down over his eyes, blacking out the faces that were peering up at him anxiously.

"_Hmmm. Another Potter. Not as courageous as your brother, are you?"_

Albus could feel his lunch threaten to make a reappearance.

"_I'm plenty courageous_," he thought as strongly as he could.

"_No. Not courageous. Very… strong-willed, maybe. You've got a good mind, a good heart, but there's something else there, too." _

"_Please, just put me in Gryffindor," _Albus begged mentally. He could hear the whispers in the Great Hall slowly getting louder, wondering how long it could possibly take to put him in Gryffindor.

"_Gryffindor? You have no characteristics of a Gryffindor. You would never reach your full potential in that house. No, you are more studious, quieter, much less sociable than any Gryffindor." _

"_But I want to be in there, please. My Aunt Hermione was in there, and she liked to study." _

"_Ah, but she belonged in Gryffindor. If I were to put you in that house, young Potter, you would never fit in." _

Albus knew, just knew that the Hat was wrong. All of his family members were in Gryffindor, and he got along with them just fine. He wanted to be with Fred and James, even if he didn't like them. He _knew _them.

"_Yes, but look at your father. He knew no one in his house, and he still did great things." _

"_But I am not my father." _

"_So you admit it? No, you are not your father, yet, you have his ambition, his temper, his independence." _

"_No. No, I know what you're going to say, but I cannot be in Slytherin. They'll hate me, I won't make it. Just put me in Hufflepuff. It'll be better than that!" _

"_No, not Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw, perhaps…." _Albus could almost feel imagine the hat shaking its head after that thought. _"No. Slytherin is truly where you belong. There, you will thrive." _

"_I don't want to thrive! See, I'm not ambitious at all!" _

"_But you are. You only try to hide it. I sorted a student who was very much like you once, a long time ago-" _

"_Not Tom Riddle, I'm not like-" _

"_Severus Snape," _the Hat interrupted. _"I believe that you know what he went on to do. I know that you do not agree, but there is only one house where you will truly fit in." _

"_They don't want me, they don't-" _But his thoughts were getting weaker, more desperate, and the Hat completely ignored them.

There was silence for a moment. Albus hunched his shoulders forward, tensing his muscles like he was bracing himself for a punch. The whispers of the rest of the school snaked under the hat, into his ears. They were getting more and more frantic, wondering what was going on.

"_Please," _he begged the hat, one more time. But then an image of Severus Snape popped into his head and he thought of all of the stories that his father had told him about what the old potions master had been through.

Maybe, just maybe, there were some Slytherins who weren't quite so bad.

He swore that he heard the hat chuckle, and then its brim opened wide and it shouted, "SLYTHERIN."

Albus felt the hat being tugged from his head and he numbly got off of his stool, wondering what in the world he had just allowed to happen. The reaction from his other students wasn't helping.

All of the tables were staring at him with wide eyes. All of the whispering had stopped.

Then a small blonde Slytherin boy with slicked back hair stood up on his bench and started clapping. Albus recognized him as the one who Uncle Ron had pointed out as Scorpius Malfoy. The moment that he started clapping, the rest of the Slytherins slowly joined in. There was booing, too, but Albus had a feeling that it was all coming from Fred and James.

Albus hesitantly walked towards Slytherin table, feeling just a little bit woozy. Just as he was thinking about turning around and begging Neville to put him somewhere else, a very tall, scary looking boy from the Slytherin table walked up to him and put an enormous hand on his shoulder. Albus couldn't help but shake a little under the bigger boy's touch.

"So, Potter, a Slytherin, eh? I like the sound of that. I'm Daniel Flint, Quidditch captain. We need a seeker. You think you have your dad's skill?"

Albus felt himself smile. A few years ago, they'd changed the rule about first years not getting brooms. Just the mere mention of Quidditch put him at ease.

"Oh, I can beat my dad. Easy," Albus said. Daniel clapped him on the shoulder.

"Perfect. I'm expecting you at try-outs," he said, then leaned in to whisper in Albus's ear. "Don't worry if you can't make it. You've got the spot anyway."

Albus was still smiling when they reached the table. He liked Daniel already, and Scorpius was gesturing for him to sit across from him. Albus complied.

At that moment, he didn't care if Ron was going to disown him, or if James was going to hate him. Even though he still wasn't sure of his house, couldn't quite get used to the idea of being there, he was already thinking about Quidditch and making friends. He had a small feeling that eventually, Slytherin would be a perfect fit.


End file.
